While the survey found 88 per cent of respondents described
themselves as "very" or "fairly" successful investors, this can be
misleading as up to a third don't even have a basic financial
plan.

To take a closer look at investor traits, the report classified
the respondents into four categories: measured, reluctant,
competitive and unprepared.

About a third of those surveyed were measured investors. They
generally feel their financial position is secure and as a rule do
not overallocate in a single investment. Diversification is their
byword.

But even these methodical investors make mistakes, with 41 per
cent holding on to loss-making investments for too long hoping for
a turnaround, and a third citing this as the "most painful mistake"
they have made.

Reluctant investors, who made up 26 per cent of the survey,
don't really like investing. Consequently, 70 per cent said they
waited too long before plunging into the market, with 41 per cent
saying this was their "most painful" mistake.

Competitive investors (17 per cent) demonstrated a high level of
knowledge, though they can also be overconfident (39 per cent) and
greedy (34 per cent). Generally, this type of investor likes to
invest as much as possible, and reweights their portfolio every 12
to 18 months.

The survey found unprepared investors were the unhappiest. It
found they lacked confidence (47 per cent), were fearful (41 per
cent) and anxious (36 per cent) about investing. While this is the
smallest group (11 per cent) among the relatively affluent sample
in the survey, they may well be a larger proportion of the general
population.